Terminal assembly



Jan. 21, 1947. F. A. NEWCOMBE TERMINAL ASSEMBLY Filed April 10, 1944Pitta/.6 Bra/ma INVENTOR FT. AEWCaMBfi BY MW ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 21,1941 UNITED. STATES PATENT orncs TERMINAL ASSEMBLY Frank A. Newcombe,Nutley, N. J., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, EastPittsv burgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 10,1944, Serial No. 530,437 6 Claims. (01. 113-324) as used for the"sealed-beam lamps, by replacing the copper wire ring, previously usedfor uniting the terminal post and lead-in element to theglass-connecting nickel-iron or Ko var" ferrule or skirt, which servesto make a sealing conin elevation, on the line VI-VI of Figure 4, in

the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a sectional view, with parts in elevation, on the lineVII-VII of Figure 4, in the direction of the arrows.

In accordance with previous practice the parts making up a terminalassembly for a Mazda sealed-beam lamp or one of those of that generaltype, one embodiment of which is described in the Wright Patent No.2,148,314, designated as No. 4030, consist of a steel post having acollar adjacent one end, a nickel-iron or Kovar ferrule or skirt, themain portion of which is subnection with the glass of the envelope, by athin sheet-copper eyelet conforming with the surfaces of the parts to beconnected, thereby not only economizing in the use of metal forconnecting said'parts, but avoiding shrinkage by making it unnecessaryfor the parts being connected to move an appreciable distance while thebrazing operation is being performed.

A further object of my invention is to improve on the method ofconnecting the parts of the terminal assembly for sealed-beam" lamps bysubstituting, for the slow hand assembly and large fuel consumption inthe method formerly used, a quick rotary method whereby the parts areseparately fed to a conveyor which quickly brazes them one by one bysmall amounts of electrical energy while enclosed in at protectingmanifold.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, relating to theparticular arrangement and construction of the various parts, willbecome apparent as-the description proceeds.

In the drawing: 7

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a Mazda sealed-beam" lamp whichmay embody my.

. invention. I

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevational view of one of the terminalassemblies manufactured in accordance with my invention.

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the parts of said assembly beforeconnecting.

Figure 4 is a plan of a conveyor which may be used for connecting theparts of the assembly.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view, with parts in elevation, on theline V-'V of Figure '4, in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is .a vertical sectional view, with parts stantiallyfrusto-conical, the inner portion vof which, however, is bent at anangle thereto, leaving a short frusto-conical neck portion, reentrantwith respect to the main portion, apertured to receive the post up toits collar, and presenting a surface conforming with that of saidcollar. Kovar is a nickel-cobalt-iron alloy, more speciflcally definedin the Lempert et a1. Patent No.

2,279,831. In a preferred embodiment both surfaces are frusto-conical orextend at an acute angle to the axis of the post.

A small ring of copper, made from mil wire, was used as a brazing mediumbetween the post and ferrule. In the actual brazing operation theferrule was placed on aplate, the copper ring set on top of the ferrule,and the post inserted in the hole so that its shoulder rests on top ofthe copper ring. The entire unit was then heated. In order to effect aproper brazing connection, the post had to slip down from .04 to .05inch. In actual practice, many of the posts fail to move the requireddistance, with the result that the assembly was unsatisfactory for use.

In accordance with my invention, and referring to the drawing in detail,I substitute an eyelet li cut from copper sheet desirably from about.003 to .006 inch thick and pressed to the hollow frusto-conical shapeillustrated in Fig. 3, so that it conforms not only with thefrusto-conical surface i2 on the collar i3 of the contact post andlead-in conductor H, but also with the opposed surface lb of thereentrant frusto-conical hollow apertured collar or hub portion [6 onthe ferrule or-skirt member ll, the body of which, as will be observed,is generally frusto-conical although having a slight longitudinalcurvature,

These parts, illustrated as separate in Figure 3, are shown connected inFigure 2 forming a terminal assembly l8, three of which are used for thedouble filament sealed-beam lamp i9 illustrated in Figure 1, as will beunderstood. 7

By substituting the eyelet ii for a ring of copskirt 11, as illustratedin the same figure.

per more about five times as heavy, not only is a corresponding savingefiected in metal used.

but the motion during brazing of the parts is reduced to a negligibleamount. thereby in ulin! that imperfections occurring during theoperation are substantially eliminated.

In accordance with a preferred method of uniting the parts of theassembly, I use a rotary head machine 28 which may be similar to thestaking machine 88 illustrated in Figure 3 of the Makenny application,Serial No. 516,014, filed December 29, 1943, and owned by the assigneeof the present application. This machine has a rotary conveyor 2| whichindexes its assembly-receiving pockets, preferably moving from oneposition to the next every two seconds.

The pockets which receive the parts of the assembly for brazing themtogether, each comprises an insulative plate 22 fitting in acorresponding pocket or cavity 28 .in the top of the conveyor 2|receiving an annular or modified hollow cylindrical electrode platemember 24, preferably formed of durable material such as a molybdenumalloy and desirably held in place by means of an annular insulativemember 25. The portions 22 and 25 may, in turn be connected to conveyor2| by screws or'the like42.

In each aperture 26 through the conveyor 21, is a, spring chuck 2'!which has fingers 28 rotatably mounted on a pivot shaft 48 fixed to saidconveyor, resilientlyurged together by spring 42, and which grip thelower end of a terminal post l4, when inserted from the dotted linepositionto the full line position illustrated in Figure 5, there-.

the

' byholding collar portion l2 thereof in firm engagementwith an, eyeletIi previously appliedv to the collar portion IS on a ferrule or skirt i1resting on the electrode 24. The upper portion of. the electrode 24 isdesirably tapered to conform with the ferrule so that when one of the'latter is nested thereover, its lower edge is held above the insulativemember 25.

The operation of the machine illustrated in Figures 4 to '7, inclusive,is desirably as follows:

At position 28, in Fig. 4, the ferrule or skirt members are placed oneata time each time the machine indexes, each with its lower edge portioncentered by fitting overan electrode 24, as illustrated in Figure 5. Atposition 88, eyelets II, or posts I4 each with an associated eyelet i I,are fitted, each to an already-positioned ferrule or At position 3|,post members l4, if not fed at position 30, are each moved down throughregistering apertures in a positioned eyelet and skirt assembly, so thatthe lower end portions are each gripped between fingers 28 to hold theparts in full line position, as illustrated in said Figure 5, if suchdid not occur at position 38.

The placing of the parts may be effected automatically or by hand. As analternative, the skirt-eyelet-post elements may be nested, and then fedto the machine, automatically or by hand, at one position.

After position 3|, the nested or assembled parts move with the conveyor2| into manifold 82 where they are protected by reducing or inert gasfed thereto as through pipe 88.

In position 34 and while still in said manifold,

trlcal energy is passed between 'eaid plunger 88 r and the supportingelectrode 24, thereby softening or melting the eyelet II between theresiliently pressed parts of the contact assembly, so that it serves tobraze the post i4 to the skirt portion II, In order to avoid heatingmore than necessary of the post 14, the electrode 85 is desirably formedwith a downwardly-opening pocket 48 allowing'enough clearance,around-the received upper portion 4i of the post l4, so that its lowersurface 44 engages the upper surface of the collar l8 of the post l4.

The next few positions on the conveyor allow for cooling of theconnected parts. In position 45 the brazed parts are withdrawn, byhand,or automatically as by means of a pair of fingers 88 gripping thupperend portion 4! of the post l4 and removing the complete terminalassembly from the'machine, against the holding action of 2 thespring-actuated fingers 28.

As an alternative, the brazing may be affected 5 upper electrode 35 fromengagement with the post i4. Such a method avoidsthe necessity for thehold-down fingers 28, as well as the protective atmosphere and itsmanifold 82 during brazing,

because the-parts are actually brazed together while being resilientlyheld in place by the upper electrode, and the time during which they areexposed to the atmosphere while hot is so short that no undesirableoxidation-occurs.

From the foregoing disclosure it will be seen that I have not onlyprovided for a more economical construction of the terminal assembly,but also for an improved method for effecting such assembly, andeliminated the necessity for one operator. By the method formerly usedtwo op- 4o erators were employed, one for assembling the parts and onefor attending to the furnace, whereas in accordance with my inventionone operator only is needed to attend the machine. By virtue V of thespecial form of the electrodes only small parts of the associated p tsand ferrules are directly heated by passage of the brazing current.

Although a preferred embodiment of my invention has been disclosed, itwill be understood that modifications may be made within the and scopeof the appended claims.

7 I claim: 7 Y 1. A terminal assembly for electrical devices comprisinga contact prong and lead-in element formed as an elongated metalconductor with a collar adjacent one end, a generally frusto-conicalhollow thin metal skirt member receiving said conductor in a centralaperture, with its inner edge portion turned at an angle thereto andpresenting a surface conforming with the adjacent to surface of saidcollar, and a thin sheet-metal eye-.

let sandwiched'between said surfaces and serving to hold the parts inassembled .relationship.

' 2. A terminal assembly for electrical devices comprising a steelcontact prong and lead-in eleoa ment formed with a collar adjacent oneend, a

generally frusto-conical hollow thin nickel-cobalt-iron skirt memberreceiving the portion of said element remote from said collar in acentral aperture, with its inner edge portion turned 70. at an anglethereto and presenting a surface conforming with the adjacent surface ofsaid collar, Q

and a thin sheet-copper eyelet sandwiched between said surfaces andfused to hold the parts in assembled relationship.

3. A'terminal assemblyfor' pirit electrical devices" v comprising acontact prong and a lead-in element formed as an elongated metalconductor with a collar adjacent one end, that portion of said collarfacing the remote end of said conductor being formed with afrusto-conical surface, a generally frusto-conical hollow thin-metalskirt member receiving the collar-remote end portion of said conductorin a central aperture,

with its inner edge portion turned at an angle thereto to conform withthe adjacent frusto member receiving said collar-remote end portion in acentral aperture, with its inner edge portion turned at an angle theretoand presenting a frusto-conical surface conforming with the adjacentsurface of said collar, and a thin sheet-copper frusto-conical eyeletsandwiched between said surfaces and fused to hold the parts inassembled relationship.

5. A terminal assembly for electrical devices comprising a contact prongand lead-in element formed as an elongated metal conductor with a collaradjacent one end, a thin hollow metal skirt member through a centralaperture in which said conductor passes, the inner edge portion of saidskirt member being disposed at an angle thereto and having a surfaceconforming with the adjacent surface of said collar, and a sheet metaleyelet of material from about .003 to .006 inch thickrsandwiched betweensaid surfaces and serving to hold the parts in assembled relationship.

6. A terminal assembly for electrical devices comprising a steel contactprong and lead-in element formed .with a collar adjacent one end, a thinhollow flaring skirt member formed of a nickel-cobalt-iron' alloy'andthrough a central aperture in which extends a portion of said elementremote from said collar with its inner edge portion extending at anangle thereto, and having a surface conforming with the adjacent surfaceof said collar, and a sheet copper eyelet of material from about .003 to.006 inch thick sandwiched between said surfaces and fused to hold theparts in assembled relationship.

FRANK A. NEWCOMBE.

